"Improving Our Lot" - Planned Holistic Grazing, for starters..

[ShooTa]

Sooo... agri - top5 bullpoo things - go.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

I think it was @Kevtherev who brought up farming with the lunar calendar in another thread about mixed farming?
Does anyone else give it much thought, I know I always do have it in the back of my mind (but then I'm Cancerian, so should in theory have a bond with the lunar cycle, if you believe that stuff )

As with HM or biodynamics, or most other stuff, it's incredibly hard to quantify.
I do think you can create a lot of good luck by looking back to the days when the mechanical tools were less powerful, the mind and good timing were more important without them?

Thinking further, that's possibly been my substitute for a grazing planning chart to date, as I move my stock more in accordance with the monthly weather cycle, where I want them when the rain comes etc

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Sooo... agri - top5 bullpoo things - go.

"You can't manage what you don't measure"
"We are moving forwards, no point looking to the past for answers to modern problems"
"you can't farm organically without getting paid extra, to compensate for yield loss"
"low input farming only works with low land prices"
"they don't pay us enough for what we produce"

in no particular order....

 

[Farmer Roy]

err, bio dynamics has a reasonable following here. Not just small scale backyard hippy sh!t either, but with large scale producers
my hero Charlie Arnott ( I keep posting his vids ) is an exponent of bio dynamics
http://www.charliearnott.com.au/our-story.html

there is a bio dynamics workshop locally in a few weeks but unfortunately I will be away

the reason I will be away is because a mate of mine is going here to do some mapping work with his drone & I'm tagging along. These people are early adopters of regenerative ag, are also bio dynamic practitioners & apparently will be making some of their preparations while we are there - so might even get a "workshop" for free
http://www.soilsforlife.org.au/case-studies/duke-plain

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

I used to work on a biodynamic farm. A lot is very sensible stuff but wrapped up in complete rubbish

You just have to filter all the bullpoo out.

Much like many religions I suspect. They espouse all the right ideas (honesty, integrity, caring for others less able than yourself, morality etc.) but wrap it up in a whole load of hogwash (in my atheistic opinion, no offence intended to anyone deeply religious).

 

[Crofter64]

I used to work on a biodynamic farm. A lot is very sensible stuff but wrapped up in complete rubbish

You just have to filter all the bullpoo out.

Do you incorporate any of the Biodynamic principles/practices/sprays you learnt on your own farm?What was your takeaway?

 

[ShooTa]

ive tried to do it for forestry related things - ive found that rhythms nearer the equinoxs have a greater impact on sap - drier logs in waning moons and such.

 

[Agrispeed]

Do you incorporate any of the Biodynamic principles/practices/sprays you learnt on your own farm?What was your takeaway?

A lot of the biodynamic stuff on cows is quite interesting, and some is actually science based.

I'm planning on doing more biodynamic type stuff in the near future, probably starting with compost teas.

The main takeaway would be that the biology is much more complicated than you can envisage. Nutrients, soil microbes and minerals are all much more complicated and all effect one another NPK is a good start, but ultimately nonsense when you look at soil and its relationship with plants and livestock in depth.

To be honest, if someone is on this thread than they are probably doing most of the right things without putting it in context of biodynamic farming.

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

Practicing regenerative agriculture

Nicole Masters is an agroecologist who teaches, writes about, and consults on regenerative agriculture and soil regeneration. With projects in both the US and her home, New Zealand, she has worked on nearly a million acres of crop lands and range lands to improve soil and help producers reap the many benefits of doing so — healthier food, healthier farm work, less pollution, lower costs for farmers, and carbon sequestration, to name a few.
She will be speaking at the Quivira Coalition Conference this fall.

http://radiocafe.media/downtoearth-nicole-masters/
very interesting.

https://www.integritysoils.co.nz/

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

Interesting findings on root nodulation on legumes...

http://agronomyaustraliaproceedings.org/images/sampledata/2017/96_ASA2017_Hackney_Belinda_Final.pdf

 

[Agrispeed]

Sooo... agri - top5 bullpoo things - go.

Sorry, missed this earlier.

The main one for me would be the forced ignorance to the microbiological processes, such as burying cow horns full of sh!t and using it as a preparation. It's nonsense that the cow horn or where its buried makes any difference but there is a biological process going on, why not focus on that?

Burning weeds and scattering them at a certain time to tell the soil its a bad plant is clearly completely insane. Changing mineral indexes to get rid of them is very sensible however.

Its a bit like organic - There is a lot that is sensible and makes a lot of sense, but the witchcraft and cult status of it all means its treated as a complete joke.

 

[Agrispeed]

First attempt at mintilling - forage rape into Wholecropped Oats & Vetch, An attempt to get more crops out of less cultivations, and reduce grass to grass reseeds.
Hopefully this will go back into grass in the spring, probably after being ripped up to get rid of any poaching.

I did 3 passes with a tine harrow over the last 3 weeks or so to reduce weed burden, and the final (contractor's) pass drilling also cleaned it up a bit. Very cheap way of growing what is a cheap crop anyway.

Seed drilled Friday and chitting already.

 

[martian]

Burning weeds and scattering them at a certain time to tell the soil its a bad plant is clearly completely insane.

I once worked on a farm in New Zealand where they had a lot of thistles in one of the pastures. The farmer's sister's boyfriend was a very hairy Rudolf Steiner disciple who announced that he'd get rid of them and, when the moon was right and the star's aligned, he plucked a few thistle seedheads and solemnly burnt them and scattered the ash (probably with an incantation, I can't remember, we were laughing so much) over the paddock.

Of course, the thistles disappeared. My boss was absolutely livid and spent some time trying to think of other reasons why they'd gone, before concentrating on getting his sister to dump the hippy. She did, more's the shame.

 

[Kevtherev]

I think it was @Kevtherev who brought up farming with the lunar calendar in another thread about mixed farming?
Does anyone else give it much thought, I know I always do have it in the back of my mind (but then I'm Cancerian, so should in theory have a bond with the lunar cycle, if you believe that stuff )

As with HM or biodynamics, or most other stuff, it's incredibly hard to quantify.
I do think you can create a lot of good luck by looking back to the days when the mechanical tools were less powerful, the mind and good timing were more important without them?

Thinking further, that's possibly been my substitute for a grazing planning chart to date, as I move my stock more in accordance with the monthly weather cycle, where I want them when the rain comes etc

We are lunars pete [emoji23][emoji51][emoji106]

 

[Blaithin]

We are lunars pete [emoji23][emoji51][emoji106]

I think the word is “loons”

 

[Cece]

I once worked on a farm in New Zealand where they had a lot of thistles in one of the pastures. The farmer's sister's boyfriend was a very hairy Rudolf Steiner disciple who announced that he'd get rid of them and, when the moon was right and the star's aligned, he plucked a few thistle seedheads and solemnly burnt them and scattered the ash (probably with an incantation, I can't remember, we were laughing so much) over the paddock.

Of course, the thistles disappeared. My boss was absolutely livid and spent some time trying to think of other reasons why they'd gone, before concentrating on getting his sister to dump the hippy. She did, more's the shame.

Please tell me that's true (about the seedheads and getting rid of them)

 

[ShooTa]

well the lambs are eating the thistles (well one at least) - they started just after the sodding giant patch which was well seeding though......

 

[martian]

Please tell me that's true (about the seedheads and getting rid of them)

True story. It was a long time ago and I don't remember all the details...it worked but I didn't know enough about farming to really question what was going on. The thistles disappeared though.

Without using this magic, we've managed to get rid of thistles with mob grazing. Unfortunately, at the same time, we've had thistles appear in other fields. They have an place in the ecosystem, our job is to make sure that they aren't needed and they'll go away. Simple in theory...

 

[Farmer Roy]

Biology key to soil renewal for Hetheringtons
Ann RawlingsCountryman
Tuesday, 21 August 2018 12:25PM

<img src="https://images.thewest.com.au/publi...1NNAEH.3-1.jpg?imwidth=800&impolicy=.auto" alt="Rob Hetherington in a field of Brazzil canola, seeded with millet in hard clay soil." class="css-1feqstw" />
Camera IconRob Hetherington in a field of Brazzil canola, seeded with millet in hard clay soil.Picture: Ann Rawlings
Split over two properties totalling 2560ha, the typical winter cash crops of wheat, barley, lupins, oats and canola are the main players in one Lake King family’s system.

More recently, however, faba beans, white French millet, vetch and chick peas have been added to the mix, with calcium being “the pivotal element”.

Rob Hetherington said it was all in a bid to revitalise a system previously held back by compacted anaerobic soils, which lacked essential nutrients and fostered disease and insect attack.


When the land was first cleared from virgin bush by Mr Hetherington’s parents, there were no hardpans and their track-type tractor would get bogged down to the drawbar in their gravel loam soils.

However, the land soon turned, with their clay soils becoming so hard the plough could barely chip the surface.

<img src="https://images.thewest.com.au/publi...1N6195.1-1.jpg?imwidth=800&impolicy=.auto" alt="Worms castings visible in the soil of Mr Hetherington’s Lake King property." class="css-1feqstw" />
Camera IconWorms castings visible in the soil of Mr Hetherington’s Lake King property.

<img src="https://images.thewest.com.au/publi...1NQDJ6.1-1.jpg?imwidth=800&impolicy=.auto" alt="Peas and oats being ploughed in as green manure." class="css-1feqstw" />
Camera IconPeas and oats being ploughed in as green manure.
A classic system of cultivation, using fertilisers and chemicals and set stocking sheep on pasture, sped up the compaction issue, with significant rainfall events over summer causing erosion and run-off of nutrients.

Crop diseases from pathogens such as the fungus rhizoctonia, as well as attack from grubs, aphids and mites, soon started to hit on-farm profits.

It was a scenario that Mr Hetherington, who farms with his wife Judi, son Daniel and Daniel’s wife Kate, knew had to change.

Winter cash crops still take up most of their land, with about 400ha set aside every year as multi-species break crops, some of which are ploughed into the soil as a “green manure”.

Before being turned in, they are dressed with a liquid containing minerals found to be in short supply, as well as biological food sources including molasses and fish hydrolysate.

Humified compost is sometimes also spread before the plough.

The family also periodically ploughs in stubble residues after harvest, in a bid to retain and cycle nutrients before they are oxidised.

These too are dressed with a liquid tailored to suit the soil’s needs, with emphasis on the end result — feeding the biology. “It can be a juggling act with keeping the soil covered and preventing maximum oxidation,” Mr Hetherington said. “People think ploughing is destructive, and in some cases it is, but as long as you are ploughing back in something that is beneficial, it is putting residue back into the soil.

“It is always done with a strategic purpose in mind, to aerate and incorporate different forms of calcium and renovate the weed spectrum.”

<img src="https://images.thewest.com.au/publi...1NQDJ7.1-1.jpg?imwidth=800&impolicy=.auto" alt="The Hetherington family's version of manure, ‘green manure’, comprises a mix of species." class="css-1feqstw" />
Camera IconThe Hetherington family's version of manure, ‘green manure’, comprises a mix of species.Picture: Rob Hetherington

<img src="https://images.thewest.com.au/publi...1NQDJ8.1-1.jpg?imwidth=800&impolicy=.auto" alt="Calcium has helped to build stem strength in crops." class="css-1feqstw" />
Camera IconCalcium has helped to build stem strength in crops.
Calcium, incorporated into the soil as limestone, proved to be the key to improving the soil’s structure. “Calcium is the pivotal element when used in tandem with biology — I am a big fan of calcium,” Mr Hetherington said.

Adding limestone to the system helped to soften the soil, improving drainage and bringing oxygen back into the system because of the ratio of calcium to magnesium.

Its application resulted in higher levels of organic matter within the soil and it provided a welcome food source for microbes.

“I am always mindful of the fact that it is a growing plant that can build carbon at the tip of the fresh white roots. That is why oxygen is a most important nutrient to allow the plant to grow a big root system,” Mr Hetherington said.

In terms of the crops themselves, Mr Hetherington said the calcium had stimulated root, stem and foliage growth.

It thickened and strengthened the cell walls of leaves and stems and made them more resistant to attack by disease or insects.

Its presence also helped to raise Brix levels, an important factor to help plants withstand frost.

“The result is mineralised grain — no dents, no cracks, translucent so that you can see through it, not white and chalky and no dust,” Mr Hetherington said.

“This has been our benchmark for the past few years when delivering grain to the bin. It has resulted in higher grades of wheat.

“With wheat, it is exciting when you cut open the stems and they are solid.”

Animals are also back in the family’s system in the form of earthworms and arthropods, with insect attacks now directed at weeds.

Looking to the soil’s health last year resulted in a 4t/ha crop of Malt 1 Latrobe barley.

“You know it’s a pretty good crop when you can’t see any holes in it,” Mr Hetherington said. “It was from my favourite bit of soil on this farm. The barley went 4t/ha following canola on only 32 units of nitrogen, even after the deluge of 200mm of rain in February over five days.

“I’m finding that because the soil has oxygen in it, the microbes are in abundance, and so they are ‘breathing’ in nitrogen from the atmosphere and putting that nitrogen into the soil. I don’t have to rely so much on artificial nitrogen.”

The journey, however, has been far from easy, with Mr Hetherington undertaking countless hours of research and participating in conferences, courses and workshops across Australia, as well as taking advice from a few selected consultants.

“I made lots of mistakes and it’s only in the past few years that I started to put it all together, as such,” he said.

“You can’t fight nature, you have to go with it, but it’s important to get the biology and balance in the soil. It is always about what you are doing, and whether you are harming the biology or helping it. That is also in reference to not using fungicides.

“This is important, otherwise the fungi cannot proliferate on breaking down the residues.”

In one field, in which the clay soil is still proving to be a challenge, a crop of Brazzil canola is just starting to “kick off”.

A variety not often seen in modern WA farming systems, the crop was seeded before summer alongside millet to account for the time needed for the plants to gain scale.

“It has a big stem and root system, so it helps to break up the soil,” Mr Hetherington said.

“It looks thin on the ground but it’s actually at the right density to grow out — it’s a bigger plant than the usual canola.”

While under trial, it is hoped this variety will add another weapon in his soil health arsenal, in what the family admits can be a complex mission.

“We are still targeting our clay paddocks to rejuvenate them,” Mr Hetherington said.

“Even with a good paddock, you can’t rest on your laurels.”

 

[ShooTa]

Well just had the results back from a fec test - dad was all in for dosing all of them - "treat only those scouring" - of which none are now ... i must say i was pleasantly suprised.